www.jamesbondresearch.co.uk
There
are few published works that attempt to take seriously the political and
historical content of the James Bond films. Between 1965 and the late 1970s there
are literally only a handful of books on the subject. Given that the films and
novels have been so commercially successful it is strange that so little should
be written about them.
The affliction that the films appear to suffer from is that they are not viewed seriously enough and as a result only encyclopaedia-style books appear with any regularity.
All of the books that are currently in print have been hyperlinked to Amazon.co.uk, should you want to buy any of them.
There are a variety of books on the general content of the James Bond films. One of the best of these is The Essential Bond, by Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worral. The advantage of this book over others is that it is an authorised account and the authors have therefore been given access to otherwise previously unavailable information and material. Boxtree has become the semi-official publisher for authorised material on the Bond films, with Cubby Broccoli's autobiography, entitled 'When the Snow Melts', Graham Rye's volume on the James Bond girls and Pfeiffer and Worral's work, having all been published under the Boxtree standard.
Encyclopaedic-style books on Bond, however, do not assist an historian in looking at the deeper content as the official accounts of the films stress that they are depoliticised and contain no serious political assumptions, and many of the books available do not look much further than the standard topics of cars, women, gadgets, locations etc.
Amis published this book in
1965, as a criticism of what he felt was unfair treatment of Fleming's novels.
Amis was certainly a fan and spends most of the book justifying the various
constituents of the Fleming novels. In an academic study of the films, this book
does not provide a great deal as Amis chose not to include the films in his
Dossier. As a sound introduction to the novels, however, the light-hearted
nature and approach of this book makes it easy to read and fairly useful for
thematic information. The book is good as an introduction to the literary
heritage of the novels.
This is an unusual book given its publication date. The editors and contributors, all Italian with the translation by R.A. Downie, have focused on a psychoanalytical approach to Bond and in a late twentieth century style have taken the traits of Bond and attempted to analyse him as a product of his time. This is the first serious book on Bond and its Italian origins demonstrate the spread of the interest in Bond. Published in 1965, this collection of essays is possibly the best available combination of ideas on Bond that is available even today. Although the ideas presented sometimes suffer from over-analysis, the volume is a sound starting point for anyone interested in a serious historiographical analysis of 007.
This
book was spawned out of analysis by the authors of the 1977 Bond film, The Spy
Who Loved Me. The book has attempted to assess Bond as a whole - blending the
character of the novels and the films into one. This is often confusing and does
not assist in producing a clear argument regarding the imagery encountered in
the films as Bennett and Woollacott frequently do not make it clear which media
they are discussing. Setting this aside, the book produces a number of good
arguments on the subject of women and gender, but is undermined by the overt
left-wing stance taken. Each author brings their own political leanings into
everything they look at - history has no meaning unless we attribute values of
our own to the events considered, Bennett and Woollacott verge on being dogmatic
in what they write. Bennett and Woollacott spend a great
deal of concern considering whether or not a Marxist critique can be applied to
Bond or not, without firmly linking it to the character. The
book appears to be stuck in 1983 and makes references to Arthur Scargill, the
TUC and other left-wing benchmarks of the early 1980s.
One of the curses of research is that you need to check each book that makes a foray into your area of interst to see if it is on value. That's what happened to me when I read this book. Despite the ironic name, this book of the late 1970s and early 1980s helps little with a study of the Bond films. It is essentially a lengthy and often flippant plot relation - almost useless to anyone who has seen the films for themselves. The rare examples of deeper thought on the films are superficial and lack depth. The absence of a bibliography and footnotes makes it difficult to trace where Brosnan's interesting comments come from. This book is useful in demonstrating the previous lack of serious argument on the films.
Published
in 1999, this is by far the best book on the Bond films and novels available.
This is the first book to attempt a rounded assessment of the films and is quite
successful. Although Chapman virtually ignores the issues of gender, probably
the most obvious Bond theme, he does address most of the themes in reasonable
depth. Chapman wrote Licence to Thrill as a cultural history of film in relation
to James Bond, so he does not attend to the historical subjects with a great
degree of analysis. Chapman, however, did not set out to do this but has touched
upon many issues, which are briefly elaborated on. Without a doubt, although
Chapman could have gone much further in his arguments, Licence to Thrill,
despite the clichéd title, is the best book on Bond available for those looking
for an academic approach.
Jeremy Black is clearly an
accomplished author on a variety of historical subjects, and he has taken a
detour into a subject far removed from many of those that he normally deals
with. The Politics of Bond is an excellent introduction into many of the key
themes featured in the Bond films. Bond is often regarded as a cliché in cinema
and is often treated far too lightly. Jeremy Black is the
first author to attempt and succeed in assessing the issues surrounding gender
in the Bond films, and his insight is highly informative and interesting. There
are many good points within this book, specifically regarding that of gender,
and there are many interesting comments on the original literary sources
and the world of Bond in general. There are, however, deficiencies in this book,
mainly due to lengthy plot relation, a limited bibliography and discussion of
the genre as a whole. Also, the actor-led structure of the book hides some of
Jeremy Black's excellent arguments on various themes, particularly concerning
British decline as a world power. Setting these criticisms aside, anyone wanting
to gain a true insight into a growing field of academic and historical interest
should certainly read this book.
Another
worthwhile account of the Bond films is that given by Broccoli himself, in his
autobiography, When the Snow Melts. Broccoli's autobiography is not solely
dominated by the Bond films, and at least half is concerned with his early
career and his life in Hollywood. The autobiography of Broccoli is a good read,
though is often clearly one-sided and betrays many of his conservative leanings,
though not too loudly. It would be difficult to understand many of the
background influences on the films without understanding the principal orchestrator of the films and his ideas.
On of the many things I found useful during my research was having an understanding of what really went on in the espionage world during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. There are not that many books around that are written by insiders, as this often leads to bad things happening to them. It is also right and proper that those still working in very dangerous places are not compromised for our literary titillation.
Below are some of the titles I found interesting.
Sir Dick White was the first and
only person to have headed both MI5 and MI6 (SIS) during his career in British
intelligence. White's account is told through Tom Bower, who has written a
plethora of biographies, who has based the book on the work of a previous author
as well as his own work and interviews with White and other intelligence
operatives. THE PERFECT ENGLISH SPY is not as entertaining as Wolf's account
(see next review) and
comes across as less enjoyable as a read, yet his insight into the mole hunts
for the Cambridge Ring of KGB moles, and the failures and triumphs of MI6 during
the period that Bond was born into as a popular character is certainly
interesting and useful. One of Bond's key characteristics is his integrity, a
stark contrast with some of the dubious persons recalled by Dick White.
Memoirs of a Spy Master,
by Markus Wolf
This book
is the autobiography of Markus Wolf, who was head of the East German Foreign
Intelligence Service throughout almost all of the Cold War. Wolf's account of
his time as head of the Stasi is highly informative, witty and an enjoyable
read. The insight that Wolf provides into the Eastern perspective of the Cold
War is key in an understanding of the real background to Bond. Wolf's chapter on
"Spying for Love" is particularly useful in this and can open eyes to the real
use of sex and romance in espionage work. This would have to be one of those
"must-reads" of anyone looking into espionage in general and Bond in particular.
Apprantly, John le Carre based Karla on Wolf - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6132684.stm
Even though this book caused a
publicity storm when the recently retired, and first publicly named, Director
General of MI5 wrote it, it need not have done. Although there are some
interesting passages, overall, someone wanting to find a significant insight
into the work of espionage, and some startling revelations, is likely to be
disappointed. This book is a genuine autobiography and is about Stella
Rimmington's life and providing the reader appreciates that, it is an
interesting book, charting the passage of a remarkable woman through the ranks of MI5.
The Big Breach - Richard Tomlinson
Initially banned in the UK,
Tomlinson's highly readable and entertaining book is a genuine page-turner.
However, much of what Tomlinson says needs to be taken with a pinch of salt at
times. This book has been viewed as controversial and treacherous, but although
it supposedly reveals secrets, it probably does not reveal anything that any
hostile intelligence service did not already know. All the same, one of the
most enjoyable books of its type.
I felt that I was reading the book of a very bitter man, so I had some difficulty in swallowing everything that Tomlinson says. However, one thing that has stuck with me since I read this book several years ago is that it takes a very specific type of person to work in the intelligence services.
Peter Wright is the
author of the first real 'expose' of the British Intelligence Services.
Spycatcher was a major story at publication, but with time and closer
examination, it has faded into the past. Spycatcher is undoubtedly interesting
and some of the insights into intelligence gathering are fascinating. Wright
was famous for having accused Sir Roger Hollis, the former Director General of
MI6, of having been a Soviet Mole. Wright also made a number of other
allegations, some of which he later had to retract. The account of his time at
MI6, given by Wright, is somewhat self serving and detracts from what is
otherwise an interesting read.
Like Tomlinson's book, I felt there was a lot of bitterness in Wright's account of his time in MI6. Dick White was there at the same time and much as he thought Hollis was not good enough for the role of 'C', he certainly does not seem to think he was a mole. Wright reveals in his book that he did not get the pension provision that he felt he was entitled to. Sadly, that seems to be his main reason for falling out with MI6.
Incidentally, the book was ghost-written by Paul Greengrass, who went on to direct The Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum.
